The Francim-HCL-INCa-Santé publique France Partnership Work Program

The 2014–2019 Partnership Work Program (PTP) is part of the 2014–2019 Cancer Plan: it outlines the actions to be taken based on data from cancer registries and mortality data, to address the needs and challenges of cancer surveillance and monitoring. These actions aim to:

• regularly publish indicators for the epidemiological surveillance and monitoring of cancers, as well as for the evaluation of care and health policies;

• strengthen the surveillance and monitoring of certain cancer sites through the specific collection of additional data, such as stage at diagnosis;

• develop new indicators, particularly in the area of health inequalities;

• improve the performance and efficiency of the cancer surveillance and monitoring system, notably by facilitating registries’ access to sources of nominative data and by enhancing the quality of the data collected.

Data from the Francim network’s shared registry database

A registry is defined as a "continuous and comprehensive collection of nominative data concerning one or more health events in a geographically defined population, for research and public health purposes, by a team with the appropriate expertise." Cancer registries—whether general or specific to certain sites—enable an unbiased description of cancer pathology for 20% of the French population. Brought together within the Francim network, their anonymized data are compiled into a shared database called the "Francim database." This database, which contains more than 1,400,000 cancers recorded since 1975, is managed by the Biostatistics Department of the HCL with the participation of other partners. In particular, it enables the routine production of national indicators (incidence, prevalence, survival) and the development of new indicators (regional/departmental incidence, net conditional survival, crude probability of death from cancer, integration of a deprivation index, etc.).

Responsibilities of the Scientific Advisory Board

The Scientific Advisory Board for the work program on the epidemiological surveillance and monitoring of cancers, established by the Francim-HCL-INCa-Santé publique France partnership, ensures the scientific quality of the PTP’s work submitted for its review by the PTP’s Development and Monitoring Committee. Its opinions focus in particular on methodological aspects and the interpretation of results.

The Scientific Advisory Board may propose studies and research to be conducted in the fields of epidemiological surveillance and observation of cancers or may take up matters on its own initiative regarding topics related to these fields.

In addition, the Scientific Council may be called upon on an ad hoc basis to provide opinions on work conducted by individual partners outside the work program, in the fields of epidemiological surveillance and observation of cancers.

Composition of the Scientific Advisory Board

The Scientific Advisory Board of the Francim-HCL-INCa-Santé publique France Partnership comprises qualified experts in the following fields:

• biostatistics and epidemiology, particularly in the field of methods developed to produce and validate indicators for cancer surveillance and observation, or applicable to these fields;

• information sources and databases relevant to cancer surveillance and observation;

• public health, particularly in the area of social and regional health inequalities;

• clinicians with expertise in oncology.

The replacement of a qualified expert in the event of resignation during the term of office shall be carried out under the same conditions as the appointment and for the remainder of the term.

Information on the Term of Office

Appointment: Members are appointed by a joint decision of the Director General of Santé publique France and the President of the National Cancer Institute.

Term of office: 3 years

Required availability: 1 to 2 meetings per year

Compensation and reimbursement of expenses: Participation in meetings of the Scientific Council of the PTP Francim-HCL-INCa-Santé publique France entitles members to compensation.

Expenses related to meetings (including potential travel and accommodation, as well as meals during sessions) are covered.

Independence and public declaration of interests: To prevent conflicts of interest, members of the Francim-HCL-INCa-Santé publique France PTP Scientific Advisory Board undertake, for the duration of their term, to declare any personal remuneration received from companies, institutions, organizations, or entities whose activities, techniques, or products fall within the scope of the Francim-HCL-INCa-Santé publique France PTP Scientific Advisory Board.

Any potential conflicts of interest, including those held prior to their appointment, are reviewed by the institutions’ ethics committees based on the public declarations of interest provided by candidates in response to the call for applications.

Prior to each meeting, the Scientific Advisory Board’s secretariat identifies potential conflicts of interest among members regarding the items on the agenda and decides, if necessary, whether to limit or exclude the participation of certain members. The handling of conflicts of interest is noted in the meeting minutes.

The declarations of interest of the Scientific Council members are made public on the websites of INCa and Santé publique France.

Application Procedures

Selection: Applications for the Scientific Advisory Board of the Francim-HCL-INCa-Santé publique France PTP are reviewed by a selection committee composed of representatives from Francim, HCL, INCa, and Santé publique France.

The President of INCa and the Director General of Santé publique France then approve the selection of Scientific Council members.

Each candidate is personally notified of the outcome of their application.

Application MaterialsThe application package must include the following:

• a form detailing professional and personal information (last name, first name, marital status, address, professional status, and work address);

• a cover letter (maximum 1 page, double-sided);

• a brief curriculum vitae (maximum 1 page, double-sided);

• a list of the most significant publications from the past five years in the fields of biostatistics, public health, and epidemiology (maximum of 15 references);

• a public declaration of interests to be completed on the Santé publique France website: http://dpi.santepubliquefrance.fr

Submission of Applications: Submission via email is strongly recommended, to the following email address: vmoireau@institutcancer.fr

A confirmation of receipt will be sent to the sender within one week of receipt.

If this is not possible, two copies must be sent by mail, via certified mail with return receipt requested, to the following address:

National Cancer Institute, Department of Monitoring, Surveillance, and Evaluation, 52 Avenue André Morizet, 92513 Boulogne Cedex

Applications must be submitted no later than May 30, 2017, at 5:00 p.m.